ALEXANDRA BOTZ is best known as a renowned chess broadcaster, but the stylish influencer has lifted the stakes with a deep run in the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2023.
The Canadian-American won $17,500 after hitting the second prize barrier on Day 4 of the high-profile event earlier this week.
Only 1,500 players out of 10,000 participants made money in the No-Limit Hold’em World Championship main event in Las Vegas, making it a remarkable achievement for the poker novice.
Alexandra, who was wearing a patch from the online gambling website 888poker, demonstrated that she is becoming as skilled at poker as she is at chess.
After the event, Alexandra hailed the experience, promising her fans to “expect much more poker to come.”
WSOP stars such as Daniel Negreaunu and Phil Hellmuth complimented her performance.
Alexandra, 27, has become one of the world’s most popular chess streamers, alongside her younger sister Andrea.
The Botez sisters have 1.35 million subscribers on YouTube and another 1.3 million on Twitch, capitalizing on the chess boom during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Alexandra also has 687,000 Instagram followers and 466,000 Twitter followers.
Alexandra began playing chess at the age of six and began winning national competitions in Canada just two years later.
Alexandra was a five-time Canadian National Girls Champion, and after moving to the United States with her family, she won the US Girls Nationals at the age of 15.
At the age of 18, she achieved the Woman FIDE Master title norm in 2013.
Alexandra began broadcasting chess in 2016 while attending Stanford University, and Andrea soon joined in.
The attractive Andrea rapidly became known as the world’s sexiest chess player.
When the chess boom arrived in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 lockout and the release of The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, the move into streaming reaped significant returns.
“That was when our average viewership grew 10x,” Alexandra told Amazon Going Live.
“I think that was one of the few times in my life that I had tears of joy. I was just shaking with excitement.”
After gaining a huge number of sponsors and collecting significant advertising dollars, Alexandra has made a very good living as a chess streamer, believed to be a mid six-figure annual salary.
And she has sought to expand her fanbase and content output with a move into poker.
“I know I’m less experienced than most of the people here,” she told PokerNews ahead of the WSOP Main Event.
“I think my coach said I’m like bottom 15 percent – at least! – which is, you know, totally OK.
“I’m just gonna go and do my best, try to learn and pay attention while I’m at the table.
“I’m going to be vlogging and creating content while I’m there because after all, that’s my job.
“But if I do my job well and I enjoy the experience. That’s all I can ask for.”
